Sophomores Karen Hahn of Midland and Aranh Penh of Holland have been named Beckman Scholars by the departments of biology and chemistry at Hope College.
The awards will support the two students as they
conduct research in chemistry through the summer of 2001.
The funding comes through the "Beckman Scholars Program
Institutional Award" that Hope received earlier this year
from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation of Irvine,
Calif.
"The two students were chosen on the basis of
their excellent academic records and for their involvement
in research already as sophomores," said Dr. William F.
Polik, who is an associate professor of chemistry and
director of the Beckman Scholars Program at Hope. "We've
also identified them as being future leaders--not only here,
but when they finish Hope and go on to graduate school."
The awards, totalling $17,600 per student, will
support Hahn and Pen as they conduct research with faculty
members full-time during the summers of 2000 and 2001, and
part-time during the 2000-01 school year. They will also
receive funding to travel to a scientific meeting during
their time as Beckman Scholars.
Hahn is investigating the laser spectroscopy of
molecules to study chemical reactivity. She conducts her
research with Polik.
Pen is investigating the synthesis of analogues to
taxol, an anti-cancer drug. She is working with Dr. Nicole
Bennett, assistant professor of chemistry.
Hahn is the daughter of Charles and Judith Hahn of
Midland. She is a 1998 graduate of H.H. Dow High School.
Pen is the daughter of Sokhoeun and Kim Pen of
Holland. She is a 1998 graduate of Holland High School.
Hope was one of only four liberal arts colleges
and one of only 18 institutions nationwide to receive a
"Beckman Scholars Program Institutional Award" for 2000 and
2001. Hope had also received one of the two-year awards in
1998, the year that the program began.
The 2000-01 recipient schools were chosen on the
basis of excellence from among an already-select group of
131 institutions invited to apply for the awards by the
foundation.
The foundation established the Beckman Scholars
Program to enhance the training of the nation's most
talented and gifted undergraduates in chemistry and the
biological sciences by providing sustained, in-depth
laboratory research experiences with faculty mentors. The
program will be supporting a total of 71 students
nationwide.
The Beckman Scholars are among scores of students
who conduct research in the sciences at Hope during both the
summer and the school year. There were more than 120
students engaged in such research during the summer of 1999
alone.
A third student will be named a "Beckman Scholar"
through the current grant in the spring of 2001 for support
that will run through the summer of 2002.